SB 471 
• F64 
Copy l 



SB 471 
.F64 
Copy 1 

SUGGESTIONS 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING; 



By CHARLES FOLLEN, 



ARCHITECT AMD LANDSCAPE GARDENER. 



THOROUGH DRAINAGE; 



By J. HERBERT SHEDD, 



CIVIL HN G I N B B R. 



BOSTON : 
PHILLIPS, SAMPSON AND CO., 

13 WINTER STREET. 
1859. 



5K 

fV 



PBES3 of inn 

FHANKLIN PEIKTIKG EOUSE 

Corner of Franklin and liawley Street, 

B03T0M. 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING 



Landscape gardening is a subject in which we are 
all interested. It is not an abstruse art, shut up 
between the covers of expensive books. ' It is not 
dependent on the caprice of individuals, nor on the 
fashion of the day. Its laws, like other good laws, 
are consistent with that every-clay mathematics — 
common sense. It does not follow, however, that 
these laws are understood by every man of general 
sound judgment. In fact, there is, perhaps, no sub- 
ject on which sensible men act so irrationally, as the 
treatment of their grounds. It is very easy to say 
that the cause is ignorance. This is, in a sense, the 
cause of all our imperfections, and mankind advances 
mainly by augmenting its stock of knowledge. But 
the kind of ignorance in this case, is not unacquaint- 
ance with authors and systems, but misapprehension 
as to the objects to be pursued. Some of these 
objects we propose to point out, and we must first 
notice some of the prevailing misapprehensions. 

We will take first the mistake as to the point of 
view. Probably most people think that they arrange 



their houses and grounds for their own satisfaction, 
and it may seem paradoxical to assert that they do 
no such thing. This is. however, apparently the fact. 
Sometimes a man lays out his grounds without think- 
ing at all of where he shall put his house. Usually, 
however, he goes so far right as to fix upon a build- 
ing place. Now this place he selects mainly with 
reference to the public road; and he then proceeds 
to lay out his grounds also with reference to the said 
road. In short, the whole place is made not to be 
looked from, but to be looked at. It is astonishing 
what inconveniences men, not otherwise remarkable 
for their self-denial, will submit to, in order to present 
what they consider a good appearance from the 
street. Often the best aspect is occupied by the 
kitchen-yard, the stable and out-houses, while the 
family, from a forlorn, sunless drawing-room, perched 
in the air, in order that the house may look imposing 
to passers by, peer through their scattered trees over 
the dusty road at their neighbors' houses, built like 
their own, in strict observance of this hideous archi- 
tectural etiquette. Now if such a man would only 
stop and think of how very, very little importance it 
is to the rest of the world where or how he builds 
his house and arranges his grounds, and, on the 
other hand, how all important it is to himself, he 
might avoid that fruitful source of irretrievable mis- 
chief — the false point of view. 

We may next consider the erroneous idea of com- 
bating nature. A writer in the Atlantic Monthly 



has admirably described the prevailing vice of our 
domestic architecture. " The owner has built him- 
self out of his house, and his house out of the land- 
scape." He not only builds in defiance of the nature 
of the ground, but he conceives a prejudice against 
whatever the place naturally affords, and prefers such 
features as are difficult and costly. He will prefer 
gravel to grass, and will ostentatiously parade an 
enormous driveway on the lawn side of his house, 
thus sacrificing beauty and privacy to a feeling which 
he would himself, probably, find it difficult to explain. 
He will prefer a stiff hedge to an informal* shrubbery. 
He not only choses plants whose culture involves 
expense and difficulty, but he declares indiscriminate 
war upon all the indigenous vegetation. Here again 
the motive for the wrong steps seems altogether 
inadequate, and they would, probably, in many cases 
be avoided, if the owner would stop and think, not of 
what the prevailing fashion demands, but of what 
will give him real satisfaction. 

Lastly, we must notice the delusive idea of obtain- 
ing immediate effects. No one, perhaps, deliberately 
thinks that his landscape is to be realized at once. 
Yet many act wholly without reference to the future, 
haste blinding their eyes. There are three ways in 
which the mischief appears. First, men are in such 
a hurry to plant, that the question whether the soil 
is fit for plantations is quite disregarded. Hence 
arise the starved and sickly specimens everywhere 
visible. Second, of all the characteristics of a tree, 



that which would seem least liable to be overlooked, 
is its tendency to grow. Yet trees are constantly so 
placed that they must in time interfere with each 
other and with other objects, so that eventually, just as 
we become attached to them, we are forced to muti- 
late or destroy them. Lastly, it is a general rule 
that almost everything done in haste is badly done. 
The operations of landscape gardening are sometimes 
spoken of as expensive, yet men do not hesitate to 
prosecute them with such precipitation, that they 
are fortunate if they have to do the work no more 
than twice. 

Thus far we have spoken only of what to avoid ; 
let us now look at the positive side of the subject, and 
consider what to pursue ; and, first of all, how to 
be<nn. We must, at the outset, make ourselves well 
acquainted with our land. Look first at the direction 
of its inclinations. Southern slopes are among the 
prime resources of an estate ; and, in our country, 
the West is, for several reasons, rather preferable to 
the East. Next consider the views. These are to 
be estimated not only for their intrinsic beauty, but 
w r ith reference to direction, to accessibility, to per- 
manence, etc., etc. Small peaked hills, whence one 
gets an extended prospect, are common enough, and 
of comparatively little value ; while a sheltered 
South-western slope, commanding a valley or water 
view, the objects of interest lying mainly on our 
own ground, so that the prospect cannot be cut off 
and may be indefinitely improved, — this is invalu- 



able. We must also know our present resources in 
trees and shrubs, though the vegetation, since almost 
entirely in our own control, is of less moment than 
the shape of the land. Lastly, the soil itself should 
be. examined, and chiefly because this also is in our 
power, at least to modify considerably. 

Out of this general investigation must grow our 
plan. The point on which all turns is the position 
of the house. When we remember that nine-tenths 
of the pleasure which we shall have in our grounds 
will be got by looking from windows, piazzas, and 
terraces, we shall take care that no minor considera- 
tions deter us from selecting that spot whence most 
may be quietly enjoyed; and, the position of the 
house being settled, let us resolutely subordinate 
other parts to this all important feature. It is evi- 
dent now that the more definite plan we can have the 
better, and that, if we could be sure just where every 
tree ought to grow, it would be an advantage. But 
it is equally certain that we cannot have at once this 
desirable exactness. One sometimes sees plans, made 
after a cursory view of the ground, finished with 
very suspicious accuracy ; for every one who thinks 
of the matter, must know that designs, to be of value, 
must be founded on considerable acquaintance with 
the place ; and, even then, it is nearly impossible to 
direct rightly on paper the position of every separate 
tree. There are many of these positions which ought 
to be determined by looking often from the given 
point of view, some object, such as a pole or a circle 



8 

of stakes, being set up to represent the desired piece 
of foliage, in the way so well described in the supple- 
ment to the new edition of D owning' s work, by which 
Mr. Sargent has enhanced the value of a book 
already dear to all students of this subject. Never- 
theless, when designs on paper truly represent well 
understood and deliberately planned improvements, 
they are of great service, and such ought by all 
means to be made and carefully followed. 

Meanwhile, though we move with deliberation, we 
need not lose a moment. Simultaneously with our 
planning we may begin our planting. If any part of 
the land is fit for a nursery, we may stock it at once. 
If not, we must prepare a piece as quickly as possible, 
and then fill it with small trees and shrubs — the 
general rule being that the nursery be rather too 
large, rather too well prepared, and the number of 
plants decidedly more than enough. This, like every 
other right move in gardening, is a measure of 
economy. 

While the nursery is going on, and as soon as the 
outline of our plan is settled, we must begin to im- 
prove the soil. In every sense thorough draining 
lies at the bottom of all. It is now proved that all 
cultivable land is the better for it; and the only ques- 
tion is, whether in certain soil, for certain purposes, 
the benefit is worth the cost. Without attempting 
here to decide these cases, it is enough for our pur- 
pose to know that for nurseries, gardens, plantations 
and lawns, drains are almost always indispensable. 



Their chief benefits are warming, ventilating, and 
deepening the soil ; and our next care should be to 
extend these effects by ploughing, subsoiling, and 
judicious manuring. Plow much of these is worth 
while, must be determined by the circumstances of 
each case, but we may be sure that, to some extent, 
they are absolutely necessary. 

At length, when the soil is prepared, we may move 
our trees, at the most favorable time, and from our 
own nursery, to make our plantations. Our previous 
measures having given us complete control over all 
the circumstances,, we proceed sure, not only of suc- 
cess, but of rapid realization. It is astonishing to 
those not familiar with such work, to see in how few 
years beautiful landscapes can be obtained, provided 
we have the courage and patience to move with 
deliberate but constant energy. 

Let us now consider some of the effects which it is 
desirable to produce. The two most important ideas 
to keep in mind are simplicity and concentration. 
This need not interfere with that intricacy so effective 
in large and highly finished grounds; but the 
refinements must come gradually, — the broad prin- 
ciples first. We will suppose that, in building our 
house, we have avoided some of the common errors, 
and that we have placed the room where we are to 
live, the windows where we really mean to sit, on the 
side where we get our most desirable view. If an 
ornamental terrace here connects us with our grounds, 
so much the better ; but we need not be dependent 



10 

on the existence of this feature. Better have no 
vestige of it than the odious expanse of road which is 
often made to take its place. We may consider the 
view from our principal window as divided into fore- 
ground and background, of which we can control the 
first, and, by means of it, modify the second. The 
foreground must be our lawn. Now, just as a sheet 
of water depends for beauty on the broken and 
varied lines of its shore, so does the lawn depend on 
the outline of its enclosing plantations. It is most 
important to keep this distinctly in mind. The 
consequence of neglecting it is that common spotty 
effect where lawn and plantations get thoroughly 
mixed together, to the total sacrifice of the landscape. 
To make this outline picturesque and beautiful our 
materials are the various forms and colors of our 
trees. We are not, however left to the exercise of 
our unlimited fancy. A moment's thought will show 
us that the landscape will, like everything else, derive 
beauty from its limitations. Looking at the unob- 
structed view, we see at once that some portions of it 
are much less attractive than others — probably that 
some are highly objectionable. These our plantations 
must conceal ; and we shall find that, as part of the 
prospect is shut out, the remainder will be enhanced. 
In the composition of plantations, though it is clear 
that true variety is highly desirable, yet it is also 
certain that the nervous attempts to avoid monotony 
are a common cause of failure. On the other hand, 
few effects are more satisfactory, more unwearying 



11 

than a continuous mass of evergreen deeply indented 
by bright green lawn, and forming a background for 
fine specimens of oak, maple, and tulip-trees, dressed 
in their autumnal hues. Yet how few elements are 
needed to produce this magnificent chord of color I 
For most cases, the safe and general rule is to avoid 
too many kinds of large trees, to keep similar foliage 
together in grand, quiet masses, to reserve strong 
effects of contrast for the outskirts of plantations, and 
to admit more and more variety and mixture of 
species as we use smaller trees and shrubs. 

In conclusion, we would offer some suggestions as 
to the proper office of a landscape gardener. Passing 
over the clumsy name, which it is now difficult to 
change and mend, let us consider how the person it 
means to describe can make himself useful. First, it 
is clear that he should act as a reformer of the 
prevailing errors, some of which we noticed above. 
This office, however, does not exclusively belong to 
him. Any man of taste, leisure, and observation, is 
perfectly capable of exposing such blunders. Next, 
in preparing the soil and forming the nursery, the 
landscape gardener can, as counsellor, be of great use. 
It is by no means desirable, however, that he should 
take the place of the surveyor, drainer, and agricultu- 
rist. If he does so, the result often is inferior work 
at greater expense, while his attention is diverted 
from his proper business. This is to study the 
grounds, and, from this study, to design and to carry 
out well-considered plans. It is evident, for reasons 



12 

arising from the nature of the case, as we have viewed 
it, that landscape-gardening is closely connected with 
architecture. The most unpleasant feature of our 
buildings is their air of defiance of the nature about 
them; and nothing can make a country house satisfac- 
tory unless it be harmoniously connected with the 
landscape of which it is the governing feature. 

110 Tkemont Street, April 11, 1859. 



THOROUGH DRAINAGE. 



It is now generally admitted that draining holds 
the first place among mechanical methods for effecting 
those changes upon the soil by which it is made more 
productive. No soils can be injured by its judicious 
application, but all may be benefited to a certain 
extent. It is useful even in sandy soils, and where 
the subsoil is light and porous ; while in clay lands, 
and in all cases where stagnant water rests near the 
surface, it is very important if not indispensable. It 
is a necessary preparation for other agricultural oper- 
ations, and, when once thoroughly done, it constitutes 
a most important, permanent, and yearly increasing 
improvement, which can be fully produced by no 
other available means. 

A few of the many advantages that result from 
this process, and which experience has fully proved, 
are as follows: 

The drains not only take off all surplus water at 
once, — which is an immediate and remunerative 
benefit, — but they have also begun a process of 
change and amelioration of the soil, which is gradually 
deepened, until nearly on a level with the drains. 



14 

The stagnant water which had filled the pores of 
the soil, (allowing, and aiding in some cases, deposits 
of peroxide of iron, and in others, deposits of carbo- 
nate of iron or of lime, any of which will cement the 
earthy or stony particles together, forming hard pan,) 
is removed, and its place is at once supplied by fresh 
air from the surface, which air is in its turn driven 
down into the drains by the falling of rain ; and this 
process is constantly repeated. The subsoil is thus 
made more porous and friable while being mixed 
with the surface soil, and the deposits which cemented 
the particles of soil can no longer be made. 

Experience has shown that these renewed acces- 
sions of fresh air are very valuable in promoting the 
healthy growth and the quality of all cultivated crops. 

It will be noticed that for more readily admitting 
fresh air, draining is necessary, even in the most por- 
ous subsoil. Every new working of the ground 
increases the efficiency of the drains, and extends that 
action which gradually but surely improves the depth 
and character of the soil. 

The water of rains running over the surface 
injuriously washes away the soil. This evil is averted 
by drains, which allow the surplus water to pass read- 
ily through the soil ; while in filtering through, it im- 
parts to the soil those substances useful to vegeta- 
tion which rain water always contains, in more or less 
abundance. When the water is thus readily carried 
away, the soil becomes drier, sweeter, and more fri- 
able ; the hard lumps of clay lands crumble away 



15 

and disappear, the soil working easier and with much 
more economy. 

There is always moisture enough held in the soil 
by capillary attraction, for all the purposes of vegeta- 
tion, and which cannot be carried off by any number 
of drains. 

We have found by experiment that an ordinary soil 
will hold in suspension nearly half its bulk of water; 
which, in a soil three feet deep, would be equal to 
nearly six months' rain-fall. Water thus held in 
suspension does not close the pores of the soil, but 
still allows free passage of air, since the solid parti- 
cles, in a friable soil, occupy much less space than 
the pores between them. 

Where the surface soil is porous and gives a ready 
passage to the water, while the subsoil is compact and 
impervious, then the roots of plants are compelled to 
seek their nourishment in the surface soil only. 

Air and warmth, as well as moisture, are indispen- 
sable to growth, and where stagnant water stops out 
the air and keeps the soil cold, there can be no vege- 
tation. It is only on the lowering of the water table 
or surface of stagnant water to a depth of three or 
four feet from the surface, that roots are free to ex- 
tend as deep as they may. Roots of wheat and of clover 
have been traced to the depth of four feet or more, 
on drained land ; and in the streets of cities, roots of 
shade trees sometimes extend to a depth of eight feet, 
following the line of sewers. The action of the drains 
is immediately to withdraw the noxious water ; and 



16 

the subsoil, which gradually acquires properties simi- 
lar to the upper soil, becomes dry and porous to a 
greater depth. Deeper ploughing, subsoiling, and 
trenching are now practicable ; the plants have a lar- 
ger space through which to send their fibres in search 
of food; the elements of a fertile soil are brought 
into action ; and the water in passing through the 
soil is made of great benefit, instead of doing such 
injury by remaining stagnant. The result is, that after 
draining, the increase of produce is often enough to 
pay the cost of this operation in two or three years. 
It is obvious from these facts, that the deeper the 
drains, provided the water has a ready escape, the 
greater the depth of soil which is made available for 
vegetable nutrition. Experience has shown that 
water does find a ready escape into drains four feet 
deep, and that these are generally more beneficial 
than those laid nearer the surface. Both the depth 
and the distance apart must, however, be to a certain 
extent regulated by the circumstances of the case. 

There are no strong and good soils in which the 
water table naturally stands at a sufficient depth from 
the surface. All such soils will be materially benefit- 
ted by thorough draining, whatever their position 
may be, or the inclination of their surface. 

Thorough drainage prevents freezing out, or that 
process of crystallization of the surface which draws 
young plants from their beds. 

A given quantity of manure will last longer and 
do more service on drained than on undrained land. 



17 

The farmer who adopts this system is less at the 
mercy of the fickle elements; for an efficient drainage 
carries off the water so rapidly that his ground is fit 
to work as soon as the rain has ceased, and he is not 
obliged to " wait for the land to dry." He has also a 
longer season for his work, since the ground is ready 
for crops earlier in the spring, and can be worked 
later in the fall. 

Another great advantage which follows the prac- 
tice of thorough draining, is the effect it has in raising 
the temperature of the soil. 

Heat will not pass downward in water, and, before 
a soil can be warmed, the water must be removed. 
Again, water escapes from retentive, undrained soils 
by evaporation only, — a process which uses up a 
great amount of heat ; one pound of water in pass- 
ing into a state of vapor absorbing and carrying away 
972° of heat, which is rendered latent or insensible to 
the thermometer. This amount of heat might have 
raised the temperature of the soil, and materially assist- 
ed the process of growth had it not been lost by evapo- 
ration. Prof. Henry gives, in the last Patent Office 
Report, a table by M. Schubler showing the max- 
imum temperature of various earths exposed to 
the sun, while the surrounding air was at about 78°. 
One column exhibits the temperature of moist earth, 
and the other that of dry earth. He remarks, that 
" the differences of temperature exhibited by the two 
columns are due to the heat expended in the evapo- 
ration of a portion of the water in the moist earth." 



18 

In six cases of different kinds of soils, the least 
difference between the two columns is 13° (in 
calcarious sand) ; and the greatest difference is 13.95° 
(in garden earth, blackish gray). Taking the mean 
of summer temperature, this difference is equal to a 
removal from the latitude of Massachusetts to that of 
South Carolina. The benefit of this increase in tem- 
perature is felt in the spring, by bringing the land 
into good condition to work two or three weeks ear- 
lier; and also in the fall, by keeping off the frost two 
or three weeks later. Crops may be planted earlier, 
will have, on account of the higher temperature, a 
more vigorous growth during the summer, and will 
have ample time to mature in the fall before they 
can be injured by frost. 

Drains are peculiarly suited to our climate. 
The objection is often made that, though draining 
has been proved to be indispensable in Great Britain, 
yet here, on account of our drier climate, it is less 
needed. This is a false view of the subject. In 
England the fall, in a single day, of one inch vertical 
depth of rain is considered remarkable ; while here 
the fall of three or four inches is not uncommon, and' 
a fill of nearly seven inches has been measured. We 
need, then, provision for carrying away four times as 
much surplus water as is provided for in England. 
Beside this, the humidity of the English climate is 
such that the evaporation is only about half what it 
is here. We have seen how heat is lost by evapo- 



19 

ration ; so that on this account there is double the 
necessity for draining here. 

Our atmosphere absorbs moisture so rapidly that 
the surface of retentive land is soon baked, and water 
cannot rise from below by capillary attraction, so that 
crops suffer from drought, an effect which we seek to 
arrest by mulching. Drains will keep this soil pul- 
verized, so that water will rise freely by capillary 
attraction, in sufficient quantity for the use of the 
crops. 

It would be impossible, in our limited space, to enu- 
merate the many important details of construction 
that are necessary to insure an active and permanent 
drainage. 

Duties of the agricultural engineer. 
Any kind of work can be executed with greater 
efficiency and economy by a person who has made a 
careful study of the principles involved, and who has 
a thorough knowledge of the details of practical con- 
struction ; and especially in draining, the work of a 
novice is often as expensive as it is clumsy. The 
agricultural engineer should be familiar with all that 
appertains to thorough draining; and it is his duty af- 
ter being called upon by the proprietor, to examine 
the ground, (digging trial holes or a trial drain if neces- 
sary) in order to ascertain the character of the soil as 
to compactness, dip of strata, etc., and also to find 
whether the source of wetness is from beneath by 
springs, or from retention of surface water. If it is 
proposed to drain a large area, a careful topograph- 



20 

ical survey and plan should be made to aid in 
establishing the system of drainage. This plan is also 
useful both for farming purposes and for landscape- 
gardening. Having decided upon the outfall for the 
drain system, and the position of main, sub-main, and 
minor drains, as to their direction, distance apart, 
depth and grades, the whole should be staked out on 
the ground. The work may be let out by contract 
to be done under direction of the engineer ; or men 
may be employed by the day under a competent 
overseer who attends to all details of the work, giving 
grades, etc., and who is employer and pay-master 
of the men. Much of the work on grounds of small 
area may be done by farm hands, under general 
direction of the engineer. Materials for the work 
can usually be procured by the engineer at a lower 
rate than by other parties. After the work is 
completed, a careful plan of the whole should be 
made, so that after the plough shall have obliterated 
all traces of the drains from the surface, any point in 

the system may still be easily found by means of the 
plan. 



SEE NEXT PAGE 



C. FOLLEN & G. S. CURTIS, 
ARCHITECTS 

AND 

LANDSCAPE GARDENERS, 

110 TREMONT STREET, 

BOSTON. 



UND ER-D RAINING. 



SHEDD & EDSON, 
AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERS. 

Have every facility for carrying on this department of Engineering, and they 
will render any assistance or advice that may be required of them by persons 
who are about executing a system of drainage either on a large or a small 
scale. 

Complete and accurate topographical plans made to show the area of land 
and all its slopes or differences of level, upon which a system of drainage may 
be so well shown in every particular, as to make them very valuable. 

Draining Tile of all sizes furnished at the manufacturer's prices. 

Office in the Iron Building — 

NO. 42 COURT STREET, BOSTON. 




PRICES OF TILE AT THE MANUFACTORY: 
SOLE TILE, (In form as No. 1.) 

1 1-2 inches, per M., $10.00 

2 « » " 12.00 

3 « « « 20.00 

4 « « " 32.00 

g « " « 45.00 

HORSE SHOE, (In form as No. 2.) 

2 1-2 inches, per M., $12.00 

3 1-2 " " " 15 -°° 

5 j_ 2 « « « 30.00 



YA 10724 



LIERARY OF CONGRESS 



IIMMIII 
021 486 430 7 & 



'BiiiiSi, 

021 486 430 7 



Metal Edge, Inc. 2007 RAJ. 



